You guys, I created a Facebook groupchat where I'm going to be dropping updates on all my books(including my future projects) and where we also get to talk about Bran and Maria as much as we want! I'm going to drop the link on my profile later, or probably make an announcement, so please consider joining!
BRAN
Was this what it felt like to sleep next to a woman? Or did the light feeling in Bran's chest have to do with the fact that Maria was his mate?
He suspected it was the latter.
Mere sleeping next to a woman should not have this effect on him. It should not be so pleasurable to the extent that Bran didn't want to leave the bed.
He'd just returned to the castle after a very very long time away and he needed to sit with the men at the round table and have some important discussions—one of them being about the supposed vampire that had drunk from a witch—but Bran had not the slightest inclination to leave the bed. He didn't even want to shift from the spot he was lying on.
And the sole reason for his reluctance lay with her body half on the bed and half on top of him.
His heart clenched as he looked down at her, a feeling of happiness and contentment filling his chest.
She slept soundly, her little breaths gusting across Bran's chest and her mouth, slightly parted. The upper part of her body laid over Bran's, her head on his chest and her soft breasts pressed against his stomach.
He was already hard as stone, naturally, but he tried to ignore the feeling. He tried to pretend like she wasn't right there, naked and all easy access.
Whoever thought a person could have just one taste of something and walk away was so damn wrong.
He'd had a taste of Maria and immediately she'd fallen asleep, he'd wanted her again instantly. But he knew that he needed to let her rest so he'd ignored his raging erection and let her sleep. She needed it.
Fuck, Bran couldn't believe it.
He was her first. Him.
His mate had been pure, untouched, as though she'd been waiting for him all this time, just like he'd been waiting to find her—but in a different way.
Her hair laid in huge curls on his chest and Bran sifted his hand through them, simply enjoying the feeling. He realized then that taking care of her made him happy. Touching her filled him with contentment, made him feel like he was doing the right thing.
It made him feel... whole.
He hadn't been protected when he'd entered her last night, and Bran began to wonder if it was possible that she could conceive. Suddenly, an image of Maria's flat belly, big and round with his child filled his mind and had his cock jerking in excitement.
He liked that.
He liked it very much.
It was weird that he'd never really had any interest in having children, but with her, he could envision it. He was a king and therefore would be expected to produce an heir, but never once had he given much thought to it. Immortals didn't have to worry—not when they lived for a very long time and could sire children whenever they chose to.
But now...
Now, the idea of having kids didnt seem so bleak anymore. Having a little girl that looked like Maria would be a sight that Bran very much wanted to see.
His thoughts screeched to a halt.
Was he making plans concerning the future? A future with Maria in it?
But he could have it, couldn't he? He could have her and have his sister too. He could make it work.
He could meet with a witch that would help him scry for his sister's location and he would go there, taking Ariti unaware. Hopefully, that powerful sorceress wouldn't be with Ariti—and even if she was, he didn't fucking care.
It would work.
He'd been thinking about it ever since he woke up, wondering how he could keep both Maria and his sister and he'd finally settled on a brilliant idea.
He was the king. He would seek the ruler of the witches and make peace with them. Then, he would be able to get one of them to work for him.
Letting Maria go wasn't possible. He didn't want to have to choose between her and his kingdom. Not when she was so valuable to him.
She stirred then and her raised knee brushed his cock, eliciting a sharp hiss from Bran. He should wake her up with his mouth—
A knock rang out.
Bran blinked, confused. Then when he heard another knock, he carefully—albeit very reluctantly—slid out from under Maria, not wanting to wake her, shoved on his clothes from the previous night, then hurried out to meet the knocker. He didn't want them waking Maria.
"What?" He barked when he saw that it was one of his guards.
The guard stepped back and bowed. "Your Majesty. Your uncle is banging on the gates, demanding entrance."
Bran sighed and dug his hands into his eyes. He didn't make it a habit of showing signs of tiredness or weakness in front of his men, but there were just some reactions that couldn't be hidden and when it came to Bran's uncle, he did a terrible job of hiding it.
Fucking Elijah.
"Ignore him," Bran waved his hand, already turning to go back into the room. "Let him keep knocking."
"We have been ignoring him, Your Majesty. He's been out there for over two hours now and he's not just knocking, he's yelling and telling everyone that you are keeping him out."
Fucking fuck.
Elijah wanted to have an audience with him at all costs and Bran would happily ignore him, but if the people saw that he had locked his 'uncle' out of the castle, it wouldn't be good. Also, he could only imagine what he was telling everyone.
He wanted an audience with Bran?
Then he was going to fucking get one.
"Let him in." Bran finally said. "Escort him into the throne room and make sure he waits for me." Then, on a thought, he added, "I don't want him alone in there. Not even for a second."
Bran was deliberately making him wait on purpose. He could go to him now, but he wanted to anger Elijah, to make him stand and wait until he was bristling with anger and only then would Bran show up.
But he didn't know what to do to bide his time. If he went back into the room and he saw Maria, he was not sure that he would be able to make himself leave her for a second time. So instead, he traced into several parts of the castle that he hadn't been in for a while.
By that time, almost an hour had reached and it was only then that Bran traced into the throne room, a smirk on his face—too piss off Elijah, of course.
His smirk almost turned into a full blown grin when he saw how red Elijah's face had gotten. Add that to the fact that two of Bran's guards were waiting behind Elijah and they hadn't even bothered to give him a chair or stool, Elijah was livid.
"Oh, how kind of you to join me an hour later, Bran." Elijah sneered and Bran matched his sneer with a smirk.
"My pleasure, uncle."
He'd used the word, 'uncle' sarcastically, and there was no way Elijah hadn't picked up on it.
His blue eyes filled with hate and his lips pulled back from his teeth, looking like he very much wanted to kill Bran in that moment.
He only wished he could.
Bran wondered how Elijah was able to stand looking at him when he hated him so much. If the situation was reversed, Bran would have either cut all ties with Elijah, killed him, or Bran, himself would have been killed for attempting to kill a king.
He didn't have the patience that a lot of people possessed. He liked to act now and fast.
"What is this rubbish I've been hearing that you're keeping the sorceress, Maria Hatzi, here when you're supposed to be giving her back to her father so that he'll let Iris go?"
What. The. Fuck.
Where had Elijah heard that?
"Where did you hear that?" Bran asked, forcing himself to keep his voice low and not give into the rising panic he was feeling.
As far as he knew, only a few guards here in the castle knew who Maria was and even though, for instance, she had somehow managed to go out and the people had seen her, they would not be able to identify her as Maria Hatzi because that was not the appearance that she was known with—and she hadn't even gone out to begin with. His guards at the gate stayed there 24/7.
So where on earth had his uncle heard something like that?
Elijah spread an arm out wide. "The kingdom is awash with rumours that you're keeping her for your selfish reasons. Of course as soon as I heard these rumours, I set out to see you immediately to confirm if they're true or not."
Bran couldn't help but scoff.
Elijah was only here to confirm if the rumours were true so that he would tell the remainder of the kingdom that hadn't heard of it yet, and parade Bran as a bad king.
There was no way Elijah would have had his hands on news like this if he had not really heard it from someone else because Bran had not had any meetings with him recently. And that could only mean that a man from his own castle had betrayed him.
Or a man from Corey's castle.
But how had the person heard that he had to give Maria back to Ariti for him to return Maria?
This person had to be an insider.
But the identity of the person was the least of Bran's problems right now because all he could think about, was the fact that the whole Kingdom knew of his personal matters now.
They now knew that Maria was with him and they believed that he was deliberately letting his sister suffer in Ariti's hands.
If only they knew what Bran went through everyday...
"The rumours are true, then, I suppose. The people are saying that you've betrayed them," Elijah went on, happy with the torment that Bran tried to hide. "They're saying that you're not a man worthy to be called king and they're saying that they want their beloved princess back. They're saying that you're an evil—"
Bran turned away from him in hopes that the urge to shut Elijah up—eternally—would fade. "Get out."
"They're saying that you're an evil man and the worst king they've ever had." The foolish man continued. "They're saying that the safety of the kingdom is the least of your worries and you know what? I bloody well stand with them."
With a maddening below, Bran turned and charged at Elijah and just as he was about to reach him, he traced out of the way, appearing to the right of Bran.
"The fact that you can't handle the truth just proves how right I am." He threw his head back and laughed loudly, manically. "Some king you are."
Then Elijah traced out of the throne room. Gone.
Bran walked to his seat on wooden legs and dropped down on it, his head pounding, a thousand thoughts running through his head.
The people knew now.
They knew everything he was trying so hard to hide.
They knew that Maria lived in the castle and they knew that he had to give her away to get his sister, their beloved princess back.
They thought Bran was the worst king they'd ever had.
They probably hated the sorceress—who didn't?—and they would never accept a future with her and Bran.
Fucking hell, how was he going to work on a future with her when his own people wouldn't even accept her?
As he struggled to answer that question, he heard a knock on the door.
For fucks sake.